Lily Collins Shares How Her Real-Life Struggles Shaped ‘To The Bone’ Role

“To the Bone” star Lily Collins recently talked about the hit Netflix movie and shared what inspired her to be part of it.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the 28-year-old actress admitted that when she first read the script for “To the Bone,” she felt an instant connection to the story. After all, Collins also suffered from an eating disorder that resulted in her starving herself and exercising obsessively.

Read: Lily Collins’ “To the Bone” compared to “13 Reasons Why”?

“At first, my mom and some people that knew my history brought it up. And I said, ‘I really feel like I’m at the place where I want to tell this story.’ I wanted to pay tribute to the 16-year-old girl that I was and make a movie that would’ve helped open my eyes,” she said.

Collins also opened up about portraying eating disorders in the most honest and accurate way despite it being a very uncomfortable subject to talk about. According to the actress, her personal experiences helped with her portrayal of Ellen. However, she constantly had to remind herself that they were still two different people.

“For me, I was so adamant that this was a character, and I could give my experiences and my emotions to the character, but at the end of the day, I was Lily, years later. So there was that balance: I wanted to give as much as I could to Ellen, but Ellen can’t take that away from me,” she said.

Earlier this year, the daughter of Phil Collins released her memoir, “Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me,” where she talked about the things she experienced due to her eating disorder. “My hair and nails became brittle. My throat burnt and my esophagus hurt. My period stopped for a couple of years. I was terrified I had ruined my chances of having kids,” she wrote.

A similar thing was experienced by Ellen in “To the Bone.” The young girl became very frail, and she told her doctor that her period hasn’t been regular for quite some time. She would also constantly measure her arms to see if she has gained weight. Ellen hurt her back by doing sit-ups despite not eating.

“To the Bone” is currently streaming on Netflix.